1. Field
The disclosure relates to methods of forming a thin film resistive heating layer, a heating member including the thin film resistive heating layer, a fusing unit including the heating member.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electro-photographic image forming apparatus may form a visible toner image on an image receptor by supplying toner to an electrostatic latent image formed on the image receptor, transfer the toner image onto a recording medium, and fuse the transferred toner image on the recording medium. Toner is typically prepared by adding various functional additives including a coloring, to a base resin. A fusing operation typically includes an operation of applying heat and pressure to the toner. A considerable amount of energy consumed by the electro-photographic image forming apparatus is used during a fusing operation.
In general, a fusing unit includes a heating roller and a pressurizing roller that are engaged with each other to form a fusing nip. The heating roller is heated by using a heat source such as a halogen lamp. Heat and pressure are applied to toner while a recording medium, on which the toner is transferred, passes through the fusing nip. In the fusing unit, the heat source heats the heating roller, and the heat is typically passes through the recording medium to be transferred to the toner.